Darren Cahill takes year off from coaching World No. 1 Simona Halep

Simona Halep won her first Grand Slam title at the French Open. (Source: AP)

World number one and French Open champion Simona Halep and coach Darren Cahill have parted ways as the latter announced that he was taking a break from tennis due to family reasons.

Making the announcement on his official Instagram account, the 53-year old said, “I would like to announce that Simona and I will not be continuing our partnership in 2019 purely for family reasons on my part. After much thought and discussion, and many years with 30 plus weeks on the road away from my family, I’ve decided to take a 12 month break from coaching to be home more for support as our children enter important stages of their lives with the final year of high school, sports and college preparations all becoming more time consuming.”

In the four years of their partnership, Cahill, who had previously coached Lleyton Hewitt and Andre Agassi, helped Halep win a maiden Grand Slam title at Roland Garros in June as well as finish top of WTA rankings for two straight years. “I’d like to thank Simona for the last 4 amazing years. Her understanding, personality, work ethic, generosity and professionalism made it a pleasure to stand by her side as her coach. She’s a young woman of total class and someone I respect greatly which is something more important than any result achieved,” he said.

“Basically, I had the dream job and I want to thank her for making it that way, and the opportunity to work with someone so talented and dedicated. I wish Simo and her team nothing but continued success and I look forward to supporting her from the sidelines next year.”

“A special mention to Theo Cercel, Andrei Cristofor and Virginia Ruzici for all of the support, belief, friendship and great work through the years. And finally, to the Romanian fans that show unwavering passion and support for their girl. You guys rock, seriously. Thanks for adopting this Aussie as one of your own for the last 4 years and making me feel welcome in your country. I will continue to work with the ESPN team at the AO, Wimbledon & US Open tournaments in 2019. Cheers, Darren,” he added.

Halep also replied to the post saying, “Thank you so much @darren_cahill for all your hard work and incredible support over the past four years. I was lucky to have you and what a journey we had. Wishing you and your family nothing but the best and I’m sure I’ll see you soon!”

Thank you so much @darren_cahill for all your hard work and incredible support over the past four years.

I was lucky to have you and what a journey we had. Wishing you and your family nothing but the best and I’m sure I’ll see you soon! ?? https://t.co/hFl28gdXfu